With the ever widening reach of the public and private data networks used by the public and especially by business and government, there continues to be an increase in the flow of electronic data over such networks. Such communication may be from remotely located differing branches of government offices, or different divisions of a company. Further, such electronic communication may include video, audio, data, or other types of data signals, each with its own communication protocols that must be followed in the transmission and reception of intelligible communication signals.
Additionally, with this rise in electronic traffic worldwide, between remote locations, there is an ever increasing demand for a transmission system that can both transport and accommodate continuously increasing levels of bandwidth consisting of multiple channels of video, audio and data over long distances. The optimum solutions for this demand are systems which involve the least number of transmission mediums as possible and that are unaffected by environmental hazards from static, and electrical disturbances.
Fiber optics serve as the best solution to the problem of environmental interference. Transmission of electronic signals for data of all types over fiberoptic networks, will eliminate EMI radiation, EMI susceptibility and other factors which would otherwise affect copper or other cable. Consequently, this makes fiber the choice for high quality video transmission as well as conventional data transmission.
However, as noted there are a variety of video, audio and data signals, using protocols specific to the type of signal carried, that a multipurpose fiber optic transmission system must accommodate. For each of these signal types and its respective protocol, there is conventionally employed a generally unique transmission component to generate it.
Because each user at each transmission and reception site, may be employing any or all of the different electronic signals and protocols, it is a complex task to design and manufacture site-specific data transmission systems that will communicate with remote sites which in fact might have the same or other types of electronic data signals and associated protocols to accommodate. Such differing types of data stream transmission and reception requirements, even between two remote locations of the same company or government department, creates a logistics nightmare of sorts in designing a data transmission and reception system that will suit the customer's individualized needs.
Currently, such designs may entail computers with multiple types of data transmission cards or components engaged to local and wide area networks. Depending on the type of signal being communicated from one point to another over the network, any one of the differing transmission cards or components might be employed. Of course each of the differing components may also require software or drivers to allow it to communicate with the controller or computer with which it must send and receive the signal at using the proper communications protocol. Further complicating matters is the problem encountered when signals originate over an ethernet network and must be converted to transmission over a fiberoptic network for communication to the remote destination.
There is as such, a pressing need for a device, and method of configuration of the device, that provides a single system for communication of the various data signals that might originate in any highly customized client venue location, and allow for transmission of those signals to one or more remote locations using a fiberoptic network. Such a system should allow for any conventionally employed data protocol to be used by the originator and receiver of the signal, yet still allow the signal to be transmitted over a fiberoptic network.
Still further, in a particularly preferred mode of the invention, a configuration of the manufactured system should allow for customization by the buyer, of the produced device, according to the existing communications streams and protocols being currently used by the buyer. The buyer essentially should be able to design a customized component, to accommodate their current communications data streams and protocols, to communicate them to remote locations in a single device providing fiberoptic transmission. Such customization, heretofore being hard to achieve if at all, allows users to maintain the state of their network communications types and protocols, while still being able to take advantage of the benefit of fiberoptic network transmission. This eliminates any requirements for the users to upgrade and change all their systems and protocols before taking advantage of the benefit of fiberoptic network communication, thereby eliminating the costs and inevitable problems that such an upgrade would entail.